I have a few questions regarding the pocket edition of The Hobbit that was released a few months ago. Judging from the pages that are viewable on Amazon, it contains Christopher Tolkien's preface that was first published in the 50th anniversary edition of The Hobbit in 1987. This preface included several illustrations and facsimiles of two manuscript pages. Are these facsimiles also included in the preface as it is reprinted in the pocket Hobbit? I know the 70th anniversary edition (2007) had the preface (in its entirety? Tolkienbooks.net says it is an "excerpt"), but I believe the facsimiles were omitted, which was the reason I did not buy it. Can any of you tell me whether this new edition does include the manuscript pages? The illustrations were probably reprinted in Hammond & Scull's Art of the Hobbit, but I am interested in (a full version of) Christopher's preface and the manuscript pages.

Also, is its printing/binding any good? I do not expect stellar quality at that price (or from HarperCollins in general), but still...

The Preface from Christopher Tolkien in this edition includes one illustration (Mirkwood) only, so this is not the right edition for you. The printing/binding is what I would expect for a £9.99 book and I think the real problem with this edition is the numbering (2 for UK editions)

I agree, Trotter, the number is a problem. I have the same issue with the first UK 3-volume paperback of LoTR (1974) where the 1st impressions were exported. In the UK I have seen dozens of copies of these but only one that was a 1st impression (an odd volume of RotK)

Why's it a problem? The first impression is, well, the first impression --go get it! Do you both want the first impression to be available to every market, or prioritised to the UK? HarperCollins don't give a hoot about this --they were all probably printed at the same time anyway. Get 'em both!

I ordered the Pocket Hobbit from Amazon Canada, and yes it's a first edition, but the paper quality is very poor.